


Not That Hard to Spot

by TheIcyMage



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:05:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIcyMage/pseuds/TheIcyMage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The similarities were hard to ignore, but she still tried. They couldn't be the same person, could they? Alya hated being the reporter friend trope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not That Hard to Spot

**Author's Note:**

> Events in the show may be out of sequence from the cannon. It's been a while since I watched Ladybug and wrote this off of memory. Eventually, I need to re watch the show and revise this fic.

Plausible deniability. That's what she had been riding on all this time. She had gotten a few close looks at the heroine and the similarities were obvious. The eyes, the hair color, the pigtails, even the voice were familiar. But being similar and being the same person were two completely different things. Mistaking them could cost her the respect of her followers. Being right and posting it for the internet to see would cost her best friend's trust. She didn't want to make the choice, so she tried her best to ignore her suspicions. Besides, Marinette probably had a reason for keeping her identity a secret from her best friend, on top of the obvious one. Alya hated being the reporter friend trope. Espicially during the times when she was so close to finding the truth. 

The first hint that came to mind was, ironicaly, when they went to the museum. She was mostly joking when she pointed out the Marinette lost her history book, but she couldn't shake the feeling that her friend was stalling with that Egyptian exhibit. Funny how she didn't seem confident in what she was showing until after the attack. Even funnier that the book Alya found disappeared and Marinette recovered her own book soon after. But that would be jumping to conclusions. Marinette could have just dropped her book under her bed and forgotten. Or maybe Marinette had lent Ladybug her own book. Alya asked her about it later, but Marinette swore she had just misplaced the book. 

There were times that Marinette had bouts of confidence. When someone was wronged, when Chloe mocked a classmate. She spoke up and was quick to defend her friends. As she did, Alya found something. A spark in her eye, fire in her words. The sense of someone fighting for what was right that she admired in an other dark-haired, twin-tailed hero.   
Alya couldn't help but wonder whenever Marinette rushed off at the first sign of an attack, or when Ladybug was late to appear and she knew Marinette was occupied with something. Wonder how the two were never seen at the same time. How Ladybug arrived so soon after Alya and Marinette were separated. How Alya could never find her friend during an attack, no matter how much she looked and called and worried. Marinette was always quick at making excuses.   
Or were they really just explanations? Alya couldn't deny that she was prone to running toward rather than away from the danger. It was an occupational hazard. And worried as she was, once Alya started recording for the Ladyblog, she couldn't do much more than keep an eye open or call Marinette's cell phone as she chased the action. She did trust her friend's ability to take care of herself. 

After the Lady WiFi incident, Nino filled her in on what she did and they watched reports and other videos from the event. Somehow a few Ladybloggers managed to capture Lady Wifi's broadcasts. Alya's eyes were glued to the screen as her vilain self was reaching for Ladybug's mask. The polka-dotted fabric wouldn't budge. She pulled and pulled and the girl behind the mask gritted her teeth as her face stretched with the fabric. Their eyes were inches apart and the hero's identity just as close. Close enough to see so many details clearly and yet too far to grasp.   
Nino paused the video. Alya was laughing. And crying. And shaking her head at the idea of how awkward that scenario would be if Marinette really was Ladybug. Nino rubbed her shoulder and smiled patiently. Something in that look he gave her seemed...empathetic. Alya sighed and pressed the space bar for the video to resume. That was not the way she wanted to find out. If Marinette was Ladybug, she would tell her when she was ready, if she ever was ready. Until then, she'd try to look away from the signs pointing to her friend and keep an eye open for other candidates. Something told Alya that Marinette would do the same for her.


End file.
